When injury jeopardizes a family's well-being

Friday

This article is part of a summer series to support Lower Cape Outreach Council's Summer of Hope campaign.

In the course of its nearly 40-year history, the Lower Cape Outreach Council has helped many people who never thought they would need help — people with jobs, families and homes.

Tara (not her real name) is one of those people. At 61, she still worked as a nurse, and she and her husband — who is 68 and retired — own a house. They regularly paid their mortgage and their bills, and never imagined needing help.

But last fall, Tara broke her leg. It was a bad break, requiring a wheelchair for much of her recovery, and she could not work for months. She was eligible for disability, but it took a long time to process and when it did finally kick in it was only 60 percent of her salary.

Between the loss of income and out-of-pocket medical expenses, the couple began to fall behind in paying their bills.

“We had my husband’s pension and Social Security, but it wasn’t enough,” she said.

She learned belatedly that the home care she had received following her injury was not covered by her insurance plan, “so I ended up owing them $1,500.” Because of her condition, she needed special wheelchair transportation to get to her follow-up doctor appointments, which cost $90 each way from her Lower Cape home to the doctor’s office in Hyannis.

Then the family dog fell ill, resulting in a huge veterinary bill. By the time Tara returned to her hospital job in April, she was overwhelmed with debt.

A friend recommended she call the Lower Cape Outreach Council, which helps people in need, but she was reluctant at first.

“I really didn’t feel like I deserved help,” she explained. “I said to myself, ‘I have a job, I have a house’ — but I could have lost those things if it wasn’t for Lower Cape Outreach.”

One of LCOC’s volunteer case managers talked to Tara and reviewed her finances to determine how best to help.

“They ended up paying my electric bill,” she said, and also signed her up for food pantry visits and later paid an insurance premium.

Lower Cape Outreach runs its own food pantries in each of the eight Lower Cape towns of Brewster, Chatham, Harwich, Orleans, Eastham, Wellfleet, Truro and Provincetown.

It also operates a free clothing shop for clients, called Katie’s Korner, at its Orleans headquarters. It offers clients financial assistance in the areas of housing, utilities, transportation and medical expenses.

Staffed almost entirely by volunteers, the nonprofit offers clients help with budgeting and financial assistance. The organization, which relies on donations, often partners with other nonprofits, such as the St. Vincent DePaul society; in Tara’s case, St. Vincent DePaul helped with a mortgage payment.

Tara also met with an LCOC volunteer to help her sort out priorities, which she said was a huge help.

“We went over my income and expenses, and talked about the fact that my car flunked inspection,” she said. Her daughter, who goes to college, was also having car problems, but the LCOC caseworker convinced her to make her own car a priority because she needed it to get to work and earn money.

“I was so stressed out when I went to see them,” she recalled. “If I hadn’t had that help, I would have been overwhelmed.”

Gennie Moran, chief operating officer at LCOC, said Tara is not unusual among the nonprofit’s clients, who are typically working people undergoing some sort of hardship that has strained their finances to the breaking point.

“Most have two and three jobs, and they still cannot make ends meet,” she said. “It’s very difficult for them … It’s discouraging, but they make it work.”

In addition to financial assistance, LCOC gives clients hope—a word the organization uses quite a lot. One of its newest programs, designed to help people find employment, get better jobs or train for new careers, is called Hope Works.

And beyond practical help, the nonprofit does a lot of morale boosting.

“We provide emotional support,” Moran said. “We’re here to listen, and make recommendations … and just say, you can do it, you can go out and get that job, you can get through this.”

Tara said she had never experienced anything like what happened to her after she was hurt, and she is very glad the Lower Cape Outreach Council was there to help.